World

Russian human rights ombundswoman Ella Panfilova has warned that a new, large-scale attack may be conducted by Russia against Ukraine in the near future. Panfilova made comments in an interview Monday in which the ombunswoman stated that Russia should prepare for a second wave of migration from Ukraine, despite a current ceasefire agreement that has existed in Ukraine since September. Panfilova said that the migration would not come only from southeast Ukraine–the only area so far affected by the conflict.

“We should be ready for the second wave of migration, and not only from the southeast of Ukraine,” said Panfilova, commenting on the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who had sought refuge in Russia over the past months of fighting, most of which had since returned to Ukraine.

“The first wave of refugees is now on a decline as people are inspired with a possible truce. But there will be winter, which will be hard to live through in affected Ukrainian territories. So we should be ready for the second wave of migration and not only from the southeast of Ukraine. We should also not forget that many refugees who arrived earlier remain in Russia,” said Panfilova.

Panfilova’s comments came the same day Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the self-declared “prime minister” of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR)–a pro-Russian separatist group in eastern Ukraine–declared on Twitter that the month-long ceasefire was over.

“After today’s shelling of Donetsk with rockets,” one Tweet read, “the ceasefire, even formally, has to be considered abandoned.”

In Zakharchenko’s second tweet, he wrote, “An hour ago, the [Ukrainians] carried out a strike near the old terminal, after which our artillery carried out a strike on the dillweeds’ positions near Peski.”

According to the UN, the death toll from the conflict in Ukraine sits at over 3,700–over 300 since the ceasefire was agreed upon–and almost 10,000 have been wounded. Ukrainians continue to flee areas of conflict. UN places the number of Ukrainian internally displaced persons (IDPs) at 415,000 and the number of refugees at 427,000, most of which have sought refuge in Russia.

Since 1970, the glaciers of Peru have decreased by over 40 percent, according to the National Water Authority of Peru (ANA), causing concern regarding the hydroelectric plants, agricultural basins and cities that lie below–particularly in the dry coastal region where most Peruvians live.

Peru used satellite images to inventory their glaciers ahead of the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 20), which Peru will host in December.

ANA found that 40 percent of Peru’s glaciers had melted since 19070, and some glaciers had lost more than half of their surface to melting during that time. The worst affected, the 5,200 meter (17,000 foot) Pastoruri Glacier, situated in the Andes Mountains, lost 52 percent of its surface in the last four decades.

The melts have created nearly 1,000 new lagoons, according to the ANA.

Peru has 2,670 glaciers in 20 mountain ranges that cover approximately 2,000 square kilometers (770 square miles).

The glaciers feed hydroelectric plants and irrigate agricultural basins and cities below,

Peru is one of the world’s most biodiverse nations. Below the snowy Andes Mountains lie Amazon rainforests. The coastal region, where most of Peru’s population lives, is dry, and environmentalists have raised concerns about the impact of the melting glaciers on these populated areas.

Peru is the third most sensitive country when it comes to the impacts of climate change, according to Britain’s Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. Changes in Peru’s glaciers could have a significant impact on precipitation and water availability.

Lima has a population of almost 10 million. It is the world’s second largest desert city after Cairo, Egypt. Lima relies mostly on non-glacial water supplies–specifically, 20 regulated lakes in the Andes, runoff from Yuramayo Lake, and the Rimac and Chillon rivers. However, Lima’s water supply is currently strained due to its growing population, and only 80 percent of Limans have access to running water.

The ANA warned that the Peruvian government needed to adopt preventative measures to protect water resources in the face of natural disasters.

By Sid Douglas

Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down by pro-Russian separatists on July 17, according to the conclusions of the German Foreign Intelligence Service, which completed its detailed analysis of the evidence this month. The conclusions of the agency were unambiguous, it reported, and Russian claims that Ukrainian soldiers had fired the missile were false.

“It was pro-Russian separatists,” said Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) President Gerhard Schindler. Pro-Russian separatists captured a BUK air defense missile system at a Ukrainian military base and shot a missile that exploded in direct proximity to the plane, according to the BND report.

Schindler said that the findings were unambiguous.

Schindler also disconfirmed Russian claims that Ukrainian photos had been manipulated and that a Ukrainian fighter jet had been flying nearby to MH17 when it was shot down. Claims that the missile had been fired by Ukrainian soldiers were also false, Schindler stated.

The German agency made its conclusions after completing a detailed analysis. BND presented their case to members of the parliamentary control committee Oct. 8, providing satellite image and diverse photographic and other evidence. The news was first reported Sunday in Der Spiegel.

MH17 was shot down while en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lampur July 17, killing 298 people, and since that time Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for the downing of the plane.

Further investigations into the crime have been initiated, according to a spokesperson for the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office. The identities of the perpetrators of the attack on MH17 are being sought. The downing of MH17 is considered to be a possible war crime.

The world’s regions view the threats currently faced by the world differently, according to Pew’s 2014 Global Attitudes survey. The survey looked at five major areas of concern and found that some regions worry much more about certain problems than other regions.

The Pew poll included almost 50,000 respondents in 44 countries, and was taken between March and June, 2014. Pew asked participants about five threats: religious and ethnic hatred, inequality, AIDS and other diseases, nuclear weapons, and pollution and the environment.

Europe and the US viewed inequality as the largest threat, according to the research. For Europeans, inequality was by far the greatest threat. For Americans, however, religious and ethnic hatred and nuclear weapons were also seen as significant threats.

The concern over inequality was most pronounced in Spain and Greece, and this concern has doubled in Italy since 2007.

 

In South Korea and Argentina as well, inequality was at the top. South Korea also worried significantly about the environment and nuclear weapons, and Argentina worried significantly about the environment.

Pollution and the environment were among the main concerns in Asia and Latin America, although Latin America worried most about nuclear weapons.

For Africans, the biggest threat was AIDS and other diseases–particularly in Central and Southern Africa. In Northern Africa, religious and ethnic hatred was the top threat. Only in Nigeria did any threat rank above diseases and hatred–nuclear weapons.

In the Middle East, religious and ethnic hatred was seen to be the biggest threat by far. In Lebanon, for example, almost 60 percent of the population worried about hatred. In the same population, around 20 percent worried about nuclear weapons and inequality, while only 2-3 percent worried about the environment or diseases.

The most scattered area of concern was nuclear weapons. The nations that worried most about nuclear weapons were Chile, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey, Ukraine, and Japan–to date the only country to have experienced a nuclear attack.

The world’s regions also differed in what they did not worry about. In the US and Europe, AIDS and other diseases was a minor concern relative to the other threats. The Middle East and Asia also worried about disease far less than Africa and Latin America.

The Middle East and Africa did not worry a lot about pollution and the environment, and Latin America did not worry a lot about religious and ethnic hatred.

Overall, global concern over inequality has decreased since 2007, as has global concern about the environment and diseases. Global concern has, however, risen with regard to nuclear weapons and especially religious hatred.

 

By Heidi Woolf

Russia will open Europe’s largest prison in 2016. The detention center, known as Kresty-2, will replace one of Russia’s most notorious jails–the 120-year-old Kresty prison, in which Soviet-era dissidents such as Leon Trotsky were held. The first five facilities of the new facility were commissioned Friday.

“It will be the most modern prison in Russia and the biggest in Europe,” said Gennady Kornienko, head of Russia’s prison service.

The facility will be located in a suburb of St Petersberg, Russia’s secont largest city, and will cost 12 billion rubles to build.

Kornienko said that the prison would hold 4,000 inmates. The prison will also have over 150 visiting rooms, four large courtrooms, and elevators–a first in Russia.

Kresty-2 inmates will have 7 square meters of living space, which meets European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) standards.

Currently, the largest prison in Europe is France’s Fleury-Merogis, which houses 3,800 inmates.

By Andy Stern

The presidents of Ukraine and Russia met in Milan, Italy Friday to work towards a resolution in the ongoing dispute over gas supplies to Ukraine. A gas deal was reached, according to the leaders, but European leaders felt that Russia still had much work to do regarding the ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine.

“We agreed on all the parameters of this deal,” said Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia will supply Ukraine with gas “at least for the winter,” Putin told reporters, but he urged European countries to assist Ukraine in settling its $4.5 billion gas bill with Russia.

Russia cut off Ukraine’s gas supply last June.

The Russian leader met with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in a one-on-one meeting Friday.

The closed meeting was followed by talks attended by European leaders.

“I cannot see a breakthrough here at all so far,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “We will continue to talk. There was progress on some details, but the main issue is continued violations of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”

Italy, Ukraine and Russia agreed, however, to join France and Germany in monitoring the Ukraine-Russia border with surveillance drones through the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is currently overseeing the ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine.

Gas talks will continue in Brussels next week, according to EU officials.

Poroshenko told press that he hoped the deal reached Friday could be finalized by next week’s meeting.

“A deal on gas is now really within reach, which is very important for the Ukrainians and very reassuring for the Russians, because they really want to be paid,” said French President Francois Hollande of the prospective deal.

By James Haleavy

President Shinzo Abe of Japan and President Xi Jinping of China may meet for the first time at the upcoming APEC summit. Abe has reportedly agreed to significant concessions regarding the disputed Senkaku Islands. The leaders of Japan and China have not met since taking their current positions on the status of the Islands in 2012.

Abe is prepared to acknowledge that China has a case in their claim to the Senkaku Islands, which China calls the Diaoyu Islands, altough Abe maintains that the Senkakus are an inherent part of Japanese territory, according to Japanese government sources.

Previously, Japan has refused even to acknowledge that a territorial dispute exists, repeating on numerous occasions, “There exists no issue of territorial sovereignty to be resolved concerning the Senkaku Islands.”

Abe intends to propose settling the issue through mutual dialogue, according to the sources.

Abe and Xi have not met since the two leaders were elected in 2012, but it is reported that the two plan to meet for 15 minutes at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing next month.

The main roadblock to a meeting between the two leaders has been Japan’s refusal to acknowledge a territorial dispute. China has made repeated calls for such an acknowledgment, and the two governments engaged in a public dispute over the issue last year during the UN General Assembly meeting.

“Japan needs to recognize that there is such a dispute. The whole world knows that there is a dispute,” stated Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in September, 2013.

Shortly thereafter Abe stated, “Senkaku is an inherent part of the territory of Japan in light of historical facts and based upon international law, and the islands are under the valid control of Japan.”

Abe insisted that “Japan would not make a concession on our territorial sovereignty.”

However, both governments have asserted their desire for better relations.

The dispute over the Senkaku Islands, which Japan has administrated since 1895, intensified last year when China announced new borders for its air defense zone which overlapped existing Japanese air defense zones.

During that time, the Chinese economy has slowed, and Japanese investment in China dropped 40 percent on an annual basis in the first half of 2014 after dropping one-fifth last year.

McDonald’s has won a ruling in Moscow’s Tverskoi District Court after Russia’s Federal Agency for Consumer Rights Protection (Rosportrebnadzor) shut down a dozen McDonald’s in Russia, claiming that the fast food restaurant sold products that violated national dietary standards.

“The lawsuit was filed due to the chain’s violation of the legal requirements. An examination of samples revealed that the information on energy values and the composition of the products provided to consumers was not correct. This is consumer fraud,” stated the plaintiff in court.

Rospotrebnadzir had requested a court order to “stop [McDonald’s] unlawful activity” and remove violating products from menus.

“The results of a second inspection showed that the products fully complied with the regulations. We do not understand what violation is being committed. The information that is not included in the energy value tables on the customer’s trays are posted in the customer’s dining area. You can see everything,” the defendants responded.

At least a dozen McDonald’s were shut down in Russia afer Rospotrebnadzor began filing suits against the restaurant chain in May. Rospotrebnadzor conducted examinations of over 100 of Russia’s 430 McDonald’s restaurants in August, and claimed that the restaurants violated the listing standards for protein, fat, carbohydrate and energy values.

The bans instituted included cheeseburgers, royal cheeseburger, filet-o-fish, chicken burger and berry ice cream and milkshakes.

McDonald’s is thriving in Russia. Although the company reported poor Q4 sales globally, and 1.4% decline in the US, sales in Russia have been up, thanks to promotions like the current “American Classics” cheeseburgers, according to industry experts.

By James Haleavy

Uhuru Kenyatta, the president of Kenya, arrived at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague Wednesday for a hearing over his indictment on charges of crimes against humanity. Kenyatta is the first sitting leader to appear at the ICC, and his trial court proceedings are taking place as Kenya is under threat from active militant groups in the region.

Kenyatta is accused of orchestrating a wave of violence in Kenya in 2007. The violence followed a set of contested elections. Kenyatta has denied the charges.

Kenyatta and his allies have warned that the trial poses a risk of destabilization for Kenya, where an active threat exists. Al-Qaeda-linked militant Islamists in Somalia are conducting ongoing attacks in the region.

“This is no time to weaken a country and a region by removing its President for trial,” said Mahboub Maalim, head of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) regional organization, who attended the hearing.

The ICC has secured only two convictions in its 11 years of service. Both convictions were of Congolese warlords for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

All of the ICC’s cases to date have been in Africa. Many Africans leaders continue to ignore the court, and the African Union has decided not to cooperate with the ICC.

The ICC has 34 judges, over 700 staff, and a budget of $166 million annually. To date, the court has cost $2 billion.

By Sid Douglas